This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

12 arrested in brewery grow-op

Six years later, police say they have arrested the alleged masterminds behind a massive grow-op that operated in the former Molson brewery on Highway 400.

This OPP photo shows the inside of a marijuana grow-op located in the former Molson brewery on Highway 400, south of Barrie.
(OPP HANDOUT PHOTOS)

By Peter EdwardsStaff Reporter

Thu., Oct. 14, 2010

BARRIE—After six years, police have arrested a dozen people they allege are the masterminds behind a massive marijuana grow operation once housed in a former Molson brewery on Highway 400.

Police said they rounded up the 12 suspects on Wednesday and seized property and vehicles worth more than $7.5 million under proceeds of crime legislation. The property includes the former brewery building, a property in Elliot Lake, three vehicles and cash.

During the early 2000s, the grow-op was hidden in the building — a landmark for the thousands of motorists who passed daily — until police raids in January 2004 put it out of commission.

Police had said it was the largest marijuana grow op ever discovered in the country, capable of housing 50 workers at a time and generating hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal income each year.

For years, the ringleaders avoided arrest. After the raids, they blended into the community as they continued growing high-grade marijuana, much of which was exported to the U.S. and swapped for cocaine and weapons, police said.

“We know the vast majority of marijuana grown in Ontario is for export to the U.S., and returns to Ontario as cocaine, cash or guns to support criminal enterprises,” OPP Chief Supt. Don Bell said in a statement.

The gang had no name and did business apart from biker gangs and traditional organized crime groups, police said.

One of the accused was a homebuilder, while another did home renovations. Several others were involved in crime full time, police said.

“Crime is their professional or working life,” Karski said. “It’s their day-to-day business.”

Karski said it was a particularly tough case to crack, using undercover officers and informants, as criminals were leery about speaking with people they didn’t know and trust.

“These are very complex investigations,” Karski said. “It takes a long time to infiltrate these groups.”

When police raided the former brewery in 2004, they found hidden cameras, high-tech irrigation systems, more than 1,000 hydroponic lights, and dormitory-style housing with laundry facilities, fridges, stoves, televisions and games rooms. Some of the 30,000 marijuana plants were grown inside former beer vats.

Nine men — so-called “gardeners” —were charged following the raid, and seven were ultimately convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from two to five years.

OPP said the site was controlled by Fercan Developments from 2004 to the present.

At the time of the bust, Fercan officers said they had no idea there was a marijuana operation on the property, which they said was rented out.

One of the men charged on Wednesday, Robert Derosa, 51, of nearby Phelpston, is an officer with the company, police said.

Derosa faces more than a dozen charges, including aiding a criminal organization, conspiracy to traffic firearms, conspiracy to import cocaine and production of marijuana.

Also facing multiple charges of production of marijuana and contributing to a criminal organization are: Drago Dolic, 49, currently in prison in Louisiana, Davorka Pelikan, 47, of Mississauga, Yvan Guidon, 47, of Oka, Que., Robert Bleich, 46, of Stayner, Jeffrey DaSilva, 38, of St. Luc, Que., Ronald Fisico, 60, of North York, Larry McGee, 56, of Oro-Medonte Township, Dennis Mould, 54, of Elliot Lake, Jefferey Lawson, 50, of St. Catharines, Bernice Laan, 49, of Phelpston and Daniel Moore, 52, of Phelpston.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com